Ethnic minority communities must be prioritised for vaccines to improve their take-up rates, doctors groups urged.
People from such groups should be included in the second phase of the priority vaccine distribution, at the same time as white adults in at-risk health groups, healthcare professionals said.
In a letter to Matt Hancock, the health secretary, and Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, the coalition of ethnic minority healthcare groups said people from black and minority ethnic (BAME) groups were at higher risk of infection and death from Covid-19.
The governments decision to conduct distribution according to age overlooked ethnicity as an important risk factor, especially when combined with other factors including occupation and social deprivation, they said. They called for government officials to collect weekly